Flaming Water
by EndlessFire
Summary: Korra and the gang meet a mysterious bender while ambushed by Equalists. Initially fighting for the Equalists, the bender stops and defends the Avatar. Are the Equalists aware of a bender among them? Who is this bender?
1. Chapter 1

The night air cool and fresh, Korra, Makko, Bolin and Asami walk through Republic City Park enjoying the peace. After discovering her father's betrayal, Asami has yet to recover fully. Korra and Bolin chatt about Pabu's circus tricks while Mako walks along next to Asami, every few minutes trying to cheer her up with no avail. It is getting late, so the four of them start heading back to the ferry that would take them to Air Temple Island.

Suddenly stopping, Korra tilts her head slightly. "Shhh! What was that?"

The cry comes again, this time closer. A man rounds the corner ahead and comes running towards the gang.

"Somebody help me! Help!" he screams, waving his arms wildly. Someone in a mask chases him madly, gaining quickly.

"We've got to help!" Korra says and before anyone could speak she is already in action, sprinting forward and sending a blast of fire in the chaser's direction.

Bolin joins her, and together they stop the man in the mask, rendering him unconscious. The man who had cried for help is breathing hard, leaning forward with his hands on his knees.

"Woohoo!" Bolin cheers, punching the air. "Score one for the Fire Ferrets!"

Korra turns to the man who had cried for help. "Why was he chasing-"

Before she can finish her sentence, the man lunges towards her, aiming a punch to her face. She jumps back, and she notices that they are surrounded. All of the people were masked and wear the electrical gloves. Equalists, she realizes.

Mako steps in front of Asami to shield her with his body. "Stay behind me, they're dangerous!" he whispes.

Asami gently pushes Mako to the side. "I can take care of myself, you know," she says with a nervous smile.

As if to prove her point, one of the Equalists tries to shock her with the glove but she swiftly redirects the hit and punches him hard in the throat. Mako hesitates, but he nods as if to reassure himself and launches himself into the fight.

Korra and Bolin fight side to side, throwing chunks of earth and shooting flames at the Equalists. They work together to try and reach Mako and Asami who are fighting farther down the road.

"There are… too… too many," Bolin says in between hits to Korra. "We can't take them all!"

Korra quickly glances over her shoulder to see Mako and Asami but it is obvious that they are rapidly growing tired and their movements getting slower.

"We just have to hang on. If we-"

She gets cut off as Bolin yells in pain and collapses. Someone had gotten him with the electrical glove. She sends a burst of fire in the Equalist's direction but they dodge and grab her by the throat, slamming her into a wall. Korra finds herself staring into ice blue eyes that glint from the dim streetlight above. Her breath catches in her throat as she tries to fight off the attacker, but she panics and struggles uselessly under the firm grip as she watches the sparking glove come. Her attacker's blue eyes widen and the hand leaves Korra's throat.

"The…the Avatar," comes a soft whisper.

The person who had attacked her turns and leaps at the nearest Equalist, quickly defeating him, and then a wall of water knocks over the group of Equalists that had been attacking Mako and Asami.

Korra stares in shock as it dawns to her that the person who had attacked her –an Equalist- was fighting other Equalists, and was even a waterbender!

As the Equalists retreat and scatter, the waterbender casts one last glance at Korra and then darts like a shadow into a dark alley.

Korra's head throbs where she had been slammed into the wall, but she pushes herself up anyway and walks as well as she could without limping to where Bolin lay. Mako and Asami join her and together they haul Bolin to his feet.

"Ungg… Did we win?" Bolin mumbles.

"I think so," Mako says, glancing around. "You alright, Bolin?"

Bolin nods and brushes himself off. "That Equalist scum caught me by surprise," he says indignantly. "I wasn't ready."

"Let's go," Korra says. "We should get back to Air Temple Island," she mutters.

Everyone agreeing, they head back to the island, all of them keeping a sharp eye out for any more attacks.


	2. Chapter 2

"We were ambushed by Equalists," Korra says, taking a sip of her tea.

They had gotten back to the island in one piece, but it was late when they had finally arrived. Tenzin had been about to go looking for them. Now they are all sitting in the mealroom, drinking tea made by Pema.

"We got them all, though," Bolin says excitedly. "You should have seen us! There were so many of them but we kept knocking them down, blasting them and-"

"You should have seen Korra! Those were some amazing moves you did back there," Mako interrupts. "That huge wall of water got at least six of them!"

Korra feels ashamed for a moment, avoiding everyone's gaze. "That wasn't me," she admits. She looks up. "That was… an Equalist."

Nobody says anything for a minute, looking confused. Then finally Tenzin speaks up. "Are you sure of that, Korra?"

Korra nods. "I know what I saw, and I saw an Equalist waterbending." She puts her cup down. "He actually saved me. And Bolin."

"Maybe he's a spy," Mako suggests. "You know, learning all their secrets."

"Keeping your enemies close," Bolin says. He lifts his cup to his shoulder to let Pabu drink out of it.

"Exactly," Mako says.

Korra stands up, leaning forward over the table. "I have a weird feeling about this waterbender. I'm gonna find him again, spy or not."

"Not now," Tenzin warns. "You have airbending training tomorrow and I want you to have all the energy you can get."

Korra sighs noisily. "Fine," she says, rolling her eyes. "I'm going out first thing after training. Anyone with me?"

"I'll go!" Bolin says, jumping up. "After all, there isn't much else to do."

"Sorry, I promised Jinora and Ikki that I'd show them some of my firebending moves tomorrow," Mako says. "Maybe I can join you after that."

"I'd like to go," Asami says. "I'm sorry Mako, but I don't feel like watching you show off your firebending to little girls," she says with a smile.

"Is somebody jealous?" Korra asks teasingly.

"Yes, Ikki has been trying to get a lot of Mako's attention," Asami says, playing along. "I think I may have some competition."

They all laugh, unaware of the event that is soon to come.

* * *

"Soooo… how are you planning to find this, er, waterbender?" Bolin asks.

Korra, Bolin and Asami are wandering around Republic City, looking for any clues that might lead them to the Equalists.

"Maybe we should look under my… uh, in the secret factory we'd found under the mansion," Asami suggests.

Korra frowns. "We'd probably not want to go alone. And anyway, they might have moved out by now since we know about it."

She glances around at the park and sees the equalist supporter with his megaphone. "I know! That guy!" she says, pointing to him. "We might be able to get something out of him."

They reach him as he is doing his usual thing which is shouting to the crowd idolizing Amon and his followers.

"Where is-"

Asami clasps her hand over Bolin's mouth, cutting him off. "Don't ask him directly or he'll never tell us! Let me handle this," she whispers.

Motioning for them to stay back, she saunters over to where the equalist supporter stands. "So what is this… this "Equalist" group or whatever?"

"It's a group of nonbenders lead by Amon. They-" he stops suddenly, stooping over to look at Asami closer. "Hey, you're that Sato girl! The one who betrayed her own father to go with the Avatar! I'm not telling you anything!"

Asami drops to her knees and buries her face in her hands. Her shoulders start to shake and it becomes obvious that she's crying. "I-I'm sorry, I know I betrayed h-him! I f-feel so bad about that, I wanted to apologize to him b-but he's not in the mansion! I t-thought that maybe you would know w-where he could be. P-please, can you help me?"

The equalist supporter's face softens. "Well, I honestly don't know where he is, but… here, there's a place where they manufacture equalist weapons. It's downtown. On the outside it looks like a tiny shop, but it's huge inside. He might be there. That's all I know. Good luck finding your father," he says.

Asami thanks him and wipes her eyes, slowly walking back towards where Korra and Bolin are. They walk deeper into the park, further away from the equalist supporter. "There's an Equalist supplier downtown. Didn't know the specifics, but at least we have a lead."

Bolin grins widely and gives her a high-five. "Wow, that was brilliant!" he exclaims.

Korra smiles. "Good job," she says. "That went better than I'd thought it would go."

"Thanks. That wasn't exactly what I had intended to do, but it worked," Asami admits.

Korra laughs. "That's better than I was going to do. But he would probably have recognized me."

As they start heading downtown, they are oblivious to the pair of eyes watching them as they go.


End file.
